50 Book Challenge 2019 Part Six

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the sixth thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2019, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, it’s not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

The first thread of the year is here, the second one here, the third one here, the fourth one here and the fifth one here.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Magpie Lord Tanaqui - I like the genre summary. (And hoping it made up for the lack of shagging in Methods of Rationality .)

I am too late to join this year but I'd love to if there will be a thread for 2020! I will be going through the old threads for book recommendations too!

crybaby, just jump in! No one minds if you haven't read or won't read 50 books this year - we just like chatting about books. So stick around. This is the friendliest place on the internet, I think.

@PepeLePew

Thank you! I think you all might find my reading material a little low brow...

I am currently reading-
The Tenants by Christopher Motz
Baby Doll by Hollie Overton

Crybaby lots of different genres read and discussed on the thread, high, low and middle brow!

27. Burial Rites - Hannah Kent
Much reviewed on this thread. LOVED IT! When I wasn't reading this book, I was thinking about it and dying to get back to it. Has anyone read her second novel The Good People?

Sorry for the random appearance. I'm more of a lurker but should anyone be interested in a 'lighter' read then A Song for Tomorrow by Alice Peterson is currently free. www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01FR8HSA4

I don't know the author or any of the people it's based upon but I've had the paper version sitting on my shelf for a while(I haven't read it though) and was happy to see the Ebook version free so that I can free up another space. It seems to get good reviews and it's comparatively rare to get a book that has actually been published as a freebie so I thought I'd post a link.

32 Ready Player One by Eric Clive
Told my nephew I would read this - a long flight seemed like a good time for a fun book. There's a good and hilariously trenchant adverse review on Good Reads, for a bit of perspective, the theme of that is that Clive is a mere one trick pony. But I thought the plotting was great.

33 The Life of Stuff by Susannah Walker
In which the author deals with the estate of her late mother, who was a hoarder. She is well placed to reflect on this, she has the background to really go deep into the things she finds, and the phenomenon she is encountering. I wish I had paid a little more attention to the family tree, I think I missed some stuff as the history of the women in the family filled out.

34 Blood, Sweat and Pixels Jason Schreier
Investigation of the stories of the creation of a variety of video games. I really enjoyed this. It was a gift, and I had thought it would only merit a cursory examination, but it quickly made it onto my bedside table. The theme is, making games is incredibly hard. Lots of interesting stuff about why.

35 A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles
Five stars. Unusual, interesting, cheery.

back after name change. I am up to about 60 odd by now but can't be bothered to retype my list hence
In a summer season - Elizabeth Taylor this is an almost perfect novel with barely a wasted word. Funny and poignant story of home-counties widow Kate and her 2nd marriage to a charming man 10 years her junior. I am starting a re-read season of E Taylor and this is a belter to start with.
King of the badgers - Philip Hensher have read a couple of his & quite enjoyed them. I was obviously attracted by the title of this one which is a state of the nation, sprawling novel with a vast cast of characters reflecting the zeitgeist & still relevant although it was written about 10 years ago. The author is a bit full of his own cleverness but manages to keep nearly all the threads together for the denouement. He has obviously drawn on his own experience as a lecturer at Exeter university and possibly as a gay man about town for major chunks of this book. I can't really believe that all gay men are so promiscuous and don't really want to know about someone's sex life in that much detail whether gay, straight or other. I have noticed a lot of gay writers seem to assume that everyone is extra interested in them just because of this fact - e.g. Val McDermid, Alan Bennett, Nigel Slater - the opposite to the only gay in the village in fact. There is also an upsetting subplot about a kidnapped girl but it is not too badly handled. This plot device was clearly taken from real life & Shannon Matthews' fake kidnapping some years ago. I would read others of his but might not keep it in the house due to some unpalatable scenes - call me a prude if you like. I think however, that PH wants to believe that people are, at bottom, decent despite everything. Some of the reviews on the back compared him to Kingsley Amis & Thackeray but I wouldn't go that far.

Hi crybaby and any other lurkers - just to second the “join when you like read what you like”

I’m on holiday but my kids have been relentless - still crawling through my first book.

All Among the Barley, Melissa Harrison Much reviewed upthread. I quite enjoyed this and thought fourteen-year-old Edie and her mother were well drawn and convincing characters. However I found the "charismatic, outspoken Constance FitzAllen" quite implausible and couldn't believe that the men, particularly Edie's father, would have so readily accepted her. Shame, because I liked the idea behind it.

Footsteps, Richard Holmes I absolutely loved this - many thanks to Terpsichore for recommending it. A collection of brief but insightful biographies of late eighteenth/nineteenth century writers - Mary Wollstonecraft, Stevenson, the Shelleys and de Nerval - linking to the author's own experiences and travel. I learned so much, not least about de Nerval (who I had not come across before), and it was all so beautifully written that it was a joy to read. My only slight criticism is that I thought he was not sufficiently sympathetic to the situation of either Mary Wollstonecraft or Mary Shelley when they were effectively abandoned at home with small children while the men went off travelling (and meeting other women!). That said, he did a very good job of highlighting the dangers of pregnancy and childbirth at that time.

Finished the lengthy (542 paged) and detailed Romantic Outlaws a fascinating biography of Marys Wollstonecraft and Shelley. The Romantics were my favourite thing at uni and I now realise how much I was fed the 'party line' on PBS and how overlooked Mary Shelley has been (we didn't cover her at all, although I think there was a Gothic option paper) I did also read Wollstonecraft back then but it left little of a mark on me. This biography really does enlighten. These women and their circle were, by any measure, fantastically forward thinking, rebellious and eccentric: but this came at a considerable cost, particularly for the women : the numbers of - attempted or successful- suicides by young women is truly shocking. It is obvious how much Gordon loves and admires her subjects. The book does, ironically, rather come to life, though, when Byron (and his entourage and ridiculous menagerie) features. I had been guilty of romanticising Shelley's death and learnt more about it from this text.
One issue with the book is Gordon's decision to alternate chapters between the lives of the two women, to show how intertwined their lives were. This eventually works very well but I found it confusing for the first 5 or 6 chapters, largely because ( I exaggerate not!) every single woman is named either Mary, Jane , Mary-Jane, Fanny (lots of Fannys!) , Claire or Clara. Just when you have it sorted, a Jane changes her name to Claire and another Jane or Mary pops up!

That aside, if you like biographies, especially on writers or on the social history of women, I highly recommend this (the bonkers spelling of elaborate aside).

Nowanearly I read The Good People recently and found it a bit repetitive. Well written and researched but I think most posters who've read both preferred Burial Rites.

Updating my list, and I've not posted for a while but I do lurk!

I've had a fairly good reading year so far (highlights in bold), only a few duds (in italics)

Bringing my list over (Highlights in bold- as you can see, the year started well, not had a real page turner for weeks)

1)This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
2)Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O’Porter
3)The Glass menagerie by Tennessee Williams
4)Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
5) Endurance by Alfred Lancing
6) Lord of the Flies by William Golding
7)Animal Farm by George Orwell
8) Hagseed by Margaret Attwood
9) Tin Man by Sarah Winman
10) Heartstone by CJ Sansom
11) The Light Between Oceans by ML Steadman
12)Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
13)Weird Thing People say in Bookshops
14) Educated by Tara Westover
15)Llywbrau Cul by Mared Lewis
16) Lamentation by CJ Sansom
17) Jane Seymour -The Haunted Queen by Alison Weir
18) The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
19) 12 babies on a bike by Dot May Dunn
20)Everything I Never told you by Celeste Ng
21) Becoming Michelle Obama
22)Elizabeth II – The Life of a Monarch
23) A Month in the Country by JL Carr
24)The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend
25)Eighty Days around the World by Michael Palin
26) The Librarian Salley Vickers
27)Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve
28)Notes from a Big Country by Bill Bryson
29)Artemis by Andy Weir
30)Just William by Richmal Crompton
31)Small Island by Andrea Levy
32) Take Six Girls by Laura Thompson
33) Mythos by Stephen Fry
34) Ffenestri (Short Stories in Welsh)
35) Monarchy by David Starkey
36) Hywel Dda by Catrin Stevens
37) LLywelyn the last Prince by Aeres Twigg
38) The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullogh
39) The Queen and Lord M by Jean Plaidy
40) Trwy'r Ffenestri (Short Stories in Welsh)
41) Owain Glyndwr by Aeres Twigg

42. The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
    Much reviewed diary of the owner of a second hand bookshop in Scotland.
    A mixture of funny stories about ludicrous things people say to him and ask for, the characters among his customers and staff, along with more serious musings about how Amazon and e-readers have changed the industry irrevocably.
    An easy, interesting read

43. The Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
    I really enjoyed this, quite different from the other books of his I have read (mostly his travel books), this is literally what it promises on the cover - a brief overview of the history of the earth, from the creation of the universe, atomic theory, the pioneers of chemistry and biology, evolution, and the emergence of human beings and society.

I felt it was the right balance between understanding serious science (at a basic level!) and anecdotal stories about how things were calculated and discovered, mistakes scientists have made over the years and genuinely funny stories.

Love Bill Bryson

44. In the Days of Rain by Rebecca Stott Interesting account of life within the very isolated Christian group called the Brethren, They exist worldwide, but this account focuses on the Stott family in England, mostly about the writer's father Roger Stott who became quite senior within the Brethren before he left, taking his family with him, who then have to learn how to function in normal society without being part of the Brethren.

Well written and interesting, felt it tailed off a bit towards the end though.

45. The Island by Victoria Hislop I have seen varying reviews of this book, so it had sat on my Kindle for a long time before I decided to read it. I do enjoy a family saga and this did fit the bill, it's the story of Alexis, whose mother Sophia is from Crete but won't open up about her family background and there is an old photo of an uncle and aunt that is Alexis only point of reference. Most of the narrative is in flashback, and starts with Alexis great grandparents living on Crete. Their village is across from the island Leper colony of Spinalonga, to which her great grandfather Georgis makes weekly deliveries. The family's story becomes intertwined with that of Spinalongo when her great-grandmother Eleni is diagnosed with leprosy herself and is sent to the colony. The story continues during the Nazi occupation of the island during WW2 and into the second half of the twentieth century when a cure was found for leprosy which resulted in the closure of the colony. There are other twists and turns in the family history, including murder adoption and thwarted true love, and it's a decent story.

I am now about to embark on A Suitable Boy, which I have wanted to read for ages but have always been put off by the sheer magnitude of it! I might have a break and read something else at good moments to leave it for while.

Piggywaspushed Thanks for the review of Romantic Outlaws. That sounds like the perfect follow up, having had my appetite whetted by Footsteps. And, gosh, weren't those women remarkable!

Absolutely! So intrepid!

Thanks for the heads up Desdemona. I'll hold off on that one then, at least for a while.

I didn't think much of The Good People, having loved Burial Rites.

Meg - I really struggled with The Man in the High Castle. I liked the beginning of it and some of the Japanese stuff, but then I got more and more bemused by it and was really hating it by the end. It all felt rather drug-induced in the end, and I just couldn't work out what he was aiming to achieve, if anything.

@Piggywaspushed thanks for this review of RomanticOutlaws I got this for my birthday and hadn’t given it much thought but sounds great. Might try and reread Frankenstein at the same time.

Is anyone else counting down the days now to The Testaments I’m 9th in line for it at my library but looking forward to seeing the early reviews coming in.

Just popping in to say Thank You to everyone who posts on these threads!

Before finding you all last year my reading success was varied to say the least, with most library books being returned unread. Now (nearly) everything I get I enjoy, thanks to this thread.

I'm on holiday and have spent the day stuck in our hotel room thanks to a poorly 5 year old son, and due to that have ended up with two books on the go (one was by the pool and I couldn't leave him to get it!) but I'm loving both very different books. It would have been a very tough day if I'd had nothing decent to read so thank you to whoever recommended dear mrs bird by AJ Pearce and the book of memory by petina gappah!

How lovely stripy! (Although neither of those were me!).

Sadik, I have just downloaded the next Magpie book. I liked Temeraire, although I stopped around book 6 or 7- another series I think would be improved by more shagging! ( Or some romantic tension at any rate).

45. I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella. Sadly, because I like Kinsella usually, although this had a sweet idea, it felt phoned in- not as lifelike, funny, or detailed as Shopaholic or 20s Girl. Would pass the time on the beach I guess, but I wouldn't recommend.

Tanaqui since I first ran into the Temeraire books when DD read them in her dragon phase aged about 9, I'm quite grateful for the relative lack of shagging

Just popping in to second Piggy's excellent review of Romantic Outlaws - I loved this and would highly recommend it.

boiledegg I'm really glad you enjoyed Footsteps - I feel like re-reading it myself now!